Illinois Workers' Compensation Attorneys Blog

It is no secret that Illinois Workers Compensation Insurance companies attempt to exert influence on the Illinois state government to change the laws that protect workers who are injured on the job. And, of course, they always try to change the laws to save them money at the expense of the injured worker.

The present budget crisis in Illinois has provided an opportunity for these insurance companies to exert their influence. There is no question that the State of Illinois is facing serious problems with the budget. However, the citizens of Illinois must ask themselves if the right way to fix the budget is to save money for businesses and insurance companies, at a time when may Illinois workers are struggling to make ends meet. Cutting benefits to injured workers makes it harder for these workers to get back to work after they have been injured, and also takes money out of pockets of inured workers and their families at a time when they are struggling even more than everyone else.

Illinois State Rep. Raymond Poe, R-Springfield, has suggested just this - that workers compensation protections for injured workers be weakened, as a way to strengthen business and encourage more businesses to open up shop in Illinois. He argues that this will increase the tax base and help fix the budget. However, this is not free, and comes at the expense of someone. And that "someone" are injured workers in Illinois. If you have been injured on the job, or know someone who has had to depend on Workers' Compensation benefits, you will understand how devastating any cuts in these benefits can be.

It is important that we continue to fight for these benefits for injured workers. As experienced Illinois workers compensation attorneys, we have been doing just that for over 20 years.

Illinois State Senator Suggests Cuts to Workers Compensation Benefits to Fix State Budget, The News-Gazette, June 5, 2009

The Illinois Department of Insurance has brought fraud charges against an insurance agent in Zion, Illinois for selling bogus workers compensation insurance polices to 22 north suburban businesses. As a result, any employee who is injured while working for any of these employers will not be covered.

Unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence in Illinois. The Illinois Attorney General and the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission have taken steps recently to address this issue. The Illinois Workers Compensation Act requires most businesses with employees to have insurance to cover work injuries, and also provides for penalties against employers who fail to have this insurance.

If you are an employee of one of these businesses who is injured at work, you can still get benefits from a special fund set up by the State of Illinois. However, you must follow a set of special procedures to make a claim against this fund for work injuries. This fund covers all benefits available under the Workers Compensation Act, including medical bills for treatment related to a work injury, benefits for time off work and compensation for the permanent effects of the injury. In this circumstance, it is best to have an Illinois workers compensation lawyer with experience in getting benefits for injured workers from this fund.

Lake County insurance agent pleads guilty to fraud, Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2009

Illinois Agent Guilty of Fraud Charges, Financial-Planning.com, June 26, 2009

False insurance leads to jail time for north suburban agent, WBBM780, June 26, 2009

Illinois Agent Guilty of Fraud Charges, Insurance Networking News, June 26, 2009

The Illinois Workers Compensation Act requires that most businesses with employees operating in the State of Illinois carry insurance to cover workers compensation claims. This provision is very important for Illinois workers. When an employer does not have insurance, the employee may have to wait a long time to receive any benefits, including medical treatment, benefits for time off work and compensation for the work-related injury itself. Even then, the injured worker most likely will only receive a portion of those benefits.

Recently, the Illinois Workers Compensation Commission recognized the importance of this provision of the law. A pet store in Evanston, Illinois was shut down for failure to obtain workers compensation insurance, after four employees filed workers' compensation claims against the business and were unable to obtain benefits. This is the first time a business has been shut down by the State of Illinois for failure to have this insurance.

Despite Illinois workers compensation law requiring businesses to have workers compensation insurance and the potential consequence of having your business shut down for failure to comply with this requirement, there are still a substantial number of business that have been operating in recent years without insurance. The action against the employer in this case shows that the State of Illinois and the llinois Workers Compensation Commission are concerned about this issue and understand the potential burden on Illinois workers posed by uninsured employers. Hopefully, this recent action will encourage more employers who do not have workers compensation insurance to make sure that they are in compliance with the law. This will be a good development for everyone - employers and injured workers alike.

Evanston Business Closed For Not Having Workers' Compensation Insurance, Sun Times News Group, June 3, 2009

Employers and workers compensation insurers are becoming increasingly concerned about the effect of obesity on work-related injuries and workers compensation claims. Representing injured workers in Illinois for close to twenty years, this news comes as no surprise. Often, employers and workers compensation insurance companies will dispute the nature and extent of a work injury by attempting to blame the injured workers ongoing problems and the need for medical treatment to the workers' weight rather than to the original accident that caused the injury in the first place.

This is an issue that we have dealt with again and again. For example, suppose an employee injures their knee in a work-related accident. As time goes on, the injured worker's treating orthopedic surgeon perhaps performs an arthroscopic surgery, and the injured worker does not see significant improvement. At that point, the surgeon may suggest a total knee replacement. If the injured worker is overweight, the employer will claim that the need for a knee replacement is related to the extra stress from being overweight, and not to the original work accident.

However, under Illinois workers compensation law, the employer must pay for any medical treatment if the work accident contributed in any way to the injured workers' need for this treatment. The accident does not need to be the sole cause for ongoing treatment. It is enough that the work accident is one cause among many. So, in the example above, the worker was injured and had a surgery as a result. At that point, it is difficult for the employer to argue that after having one surgery, the need for a knee replacement is related only to the workers weight and not at all to the work injury.

Of course, this does not stop the employer from making this claim, and hiring an expert to back them up. In such a circumstance, the injured worker will need an Illinois workers compensation lawyer with experience in fighting these claims to get them the benefits that they are entitled to under the Workers' Compensation Act.

Workers' Compensation Industry Worried About Obesity Claims, Insurance Journal, June 9, 2009

Obesity Increases Risk of Injury on the Job, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, May 15, 2007

Obesity Increases Workers' Compensation Costs, Duke Health, April 23, 2007